New music: Bon Iver – I Can't Make You Love Me/Nick of Time

Written by Mike Reid and Allen Shamblin and originally recorded by Bonnie Rait in 1991, I Can't Make You Love Me has since been covered by the likes of George Michael and Peter Andre, becoming a staple of heartbreak anthem compilations. The idea for the song came to Reid after he read an article about a man who drunkenly shot at his girlfriend's car and when asked in court if he'd learned anything, replied: "I learned, your honour, that you can't make a woman love you if she don't." It's hardly surprising that Bon Iver has managed to inject a song saturated in helpless desperation with even more sadness, his creaking falsetto supported by lonesome piano chords. In the last minute the song bleeds into a version of Rait's Nick of Time, offering up some semblance of hope as he croons, "I found love darling, love in the nick of time."

I Can't Make You Love Me/Nick of Time is the B-side to Bon Iver's new single, Calgary.